Following a violent July 4 weekend, two mothers and a coalition of Chicago residents are suing three suburban Chicago communities for violating their civil rights by having loose gun restrictions.
The mothers have children who have been affected by gun violence in the South and West Sides of the city, Fox News reports.
The villages of Lyons, Lincolnwood, and Riverdale are “allowing gun shops in their respective jurisdictions to sell guns in a manner that disproportionately jeopardizes the lives of African Americans, causes mental anguish and distress and diminishes the value of their homes and other property,” according to the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.
Rev. Michael Pflegler, one of the suit plaintiffs, told the Associated Press that many of the guns recovered in acts of violence have been linked back to these areas and their stores.
The plaintiffs cite a 2014 study from the Chicago Police Department shows that between 2009 and 2013, 2,000 of the guns bought from stores in these communities were used in crime.
“Illegal firearms are flowing into a pocket of communities violating the civil rights of the individuals who reside there, who are afraid to go near their windows or let their children play in the park, much less their own yards,” Kathleen Sances, a member of the litigating coalition, said, according to Fox.
Lyons Village president Christopher Getty told Fox that Chicago is trying to “pass the blame onto outside communities and businesses for the crimes and short-comings in dealing with crime.”
Read the lawsuit:
Coalition for Safe Chicago Communities Complaint by Despres, Schwartz & Geoghegan, Ltd.